Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week down 48.38 points to 6,146.05.

Equity view

Saudi Arabia has confirmed it plans to float part of the Aramco state oil colossus next year or in 2018 as part of plans to create a $2trn sovereign fund.

The board of Home Retail has agreed to recommend Sainsbury's takeover offer, with the grocer applying for a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement to process the acquisition.

Power company Drax said 2016 earnings would be at the top end of expectations after winning a new 12 month contract from National Grid.

Standard Life said it had obtained regulatory approvals to increase its stake in HDFC Life to 35% from 26% for £179m.

RSA Insurance Group has completed the sale of its operations in Colombia to Suramericana SA, the insurance subsidiary of Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana.

London-listed pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline said on Thursday that it is evolving its graduated approach to filing and enforcing patents so that IP protection reflects a country’s wealth.

CMC Markets, the spreadbetting firm that floated in London early last month, said trading has been in line with its expectations, with recent market volatility helping to drive growth.

A consortium including government outsourcing specialist Serco has won a new framework contract from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to manage the UK’s nuclear warheads via the Atomic Weapons Establishment through to 2025.

Plastic product design and engineering company RPC Group expects revenue and adjusted operating profit for the year to be ahead of the previous year.

Investing company 3i Infrastructure ended its financial year on a high, reporting solid growth in portfolio income on Thursday, for the 13 weeks to 30 March.

HomeServe was looking to add another 10m homes to its US market on Thursday, announcing it had entered an agreement to acquire home assistance business Utility Services Partners.

Despite troubles in Turkey and the Brussels bombings, Tui informed investors that overall demand and pricing for holidays has remained resilient in the first half of its financial year.

FTSE 100 private healthcare group Mediclinic International reported continued patient growth across all of its operating platforms in the 11 months to the end of February on Thursday, with an associated rise in revenues.

First quarter results from Carnival made a splash as sales and earnings beat expectations and the cruise operator ran up higher guidance for the full year.

Premier Foods has agreed to enter talks with spices giant McCormick after the US company upped its offer from 60p to 65p per share, valuing the Mr Kipling to Oxo Cubes group at £1. 5bn.

Kingfisher is facing pressure from thousands of staff at its B&Q retail chain to bring back overtime pay and benefits it is cutting to ease the cost of the new minimum wage.

BBA Aviation has sold six fix-based operations for $190m in cash to affiliates of KSL Capital Partners as agreed with the US Department of Justice under the terms of the regulatory approval for the acquisition of Landmark Aviation.

Soft drinks maker AG Barr said it was looking to move away from sugary drinks in response to the UK government's plans to introduce an extra tax on the products as it reported its full year results.

Economic news

UK house prices rose 5. 7% in March to an average of £200,251 compared to the same month last year, data revealed on Friday.

UK manufacturing activity expanded less than expected in March as output growth remained unchanged from February’s seven-month low, data revealed on Friday.

UK inflation expectations for the year ahead held steady at 1. 5%, although the average man on the street was increasingly uncertain about the outlook for prices, the most recent survey from Citi/YouGov found.

Low rates of nominal economic growth create challenges that cannot be overcome by central banks alone, Bank of England governor Mark Carney said.

Mortgage approvals in Britain fell for the first time since September last month, but were still close to the two-year high seen in January, according to fresh Bank of England data released on Thursday morning.

A majority of Britons were set vote to stay inside the European club of nations in the upcoming 23 June Brexit referendum, the results of a new on-line survey showed, but the poll also put in stark relief a notable divide between younger and older generations and a negative response to the latest Budget.

UK economic growth in the fourth quarter was unexpectedly revised higher by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday.

UK consumer confidence remains stuck in the doldrums, with concerns about the economic situation dampening a more upbeat mood among individuals.

House prices in England and Wales rose 6. 1% in the year to February to an average of £190,275, data from Land Registry showed on Wednesday.

Uncertainty around Britain's EU membership has added to risks to the economic outlook for the UK, the Bank of England said on Tuesday, adding that a departure could lead to a credit crunch

International events

The US added more jobs than forecast in March but the unemployment rate unexpectedly rose, the Labor Department said on Friday.

The British government came under fire on Friday for not supporting EU measures to stop the dumping of Chinese steel as thousands of workers at Tata's Port Talbot plant awaited a decision on their future.

Standard & Poor’s cut China’s credit rating to negative from stable, saying the country’s economic rebalancing is likely to proceed more slowly than it had expected.

The eurozone consumer prices index improved in March but remained in negative territory at -0. 1%, according a flash estimate by Eurostat that was in line with consensus forecasts.

German retail sales unexpectedly fell in February, according to figures released by Destatis on Thursday.

The US central bank was moving cautiously on monetary policy tightening due to increased global risks, a top policymaker said, with even a June rate hike being seen as possibly too soon.

The US private sector added 200,000 jobs in March, pretty much in line with expectations, according to data released by private consultancy ADP on Wednesday.

Economic sentiment in the Eurozone fell for the third month in a row in March, according to data from the European Commission.

Although further cuts to interest rates cannot be ruled out, the European Central Bank will not take rates into “absurdly negative territory", executive board member Benoit Coeure said in an interview with Politico published on the central bank’s website.

Caution in raising interest rates is especially warranted, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen told an audience on Tuesday.

US consumer confidence improved slightly in March, amid an improved outlook for business conditions and the jobs market.